


how to cook that

by donotfeedthebirds



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, F/F, Fluff, idolverse, inspired by a fic that i forgot the name/ship of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2020-12-28 06:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21132389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donotfeedthebirds/pseuds/donotfeedthebirds
Summary: "Heejin doesn't know how to cook! She's terrible - I swear she almost burned the hourse down!" Hyunjin nodded at her own words. "So that's why, if I were a guy, I'd rather date Vivi over Heejin."or,After Hyunjin says on stage that she wouldn't date Heejin because of her terrible cooking skills, Heejin aggressively tries (and fails) to learn.





	1. faking a smile

**Author's Note:**

> prompt on my twitter that im loosely going off of:
> 
> 2jin au where hyunjin answers the question "who out of the members would you date?" with "not heejin, bc she can't cook". as a result, heejin aggressively tries for weeks to learn how to cook, pissing off the members bc they haven't had good food in ages

Zoning out was one of Heejin’s many talents. She was never the best at multitasking - quite the opposite actually - and often stopped paying attention to her surroundings whenever her thoughts became too crowded. Just like right now. 

Looking out at the expanse of people who had come all this way to see them... it was a humbling sight, to say the least. The audience’s cheers were so impossibly loud too, every shout and clap heightening the buzz throughout her body. Performing on stage was always as thrilling as the first time. With the bright lights and cameras trained on them, Heejin felt special like never before. Special, and also overwhelmed. Any mistake and everyone here was bound to see it, any wrong move could turn all they had worked for into public humiliation.

Despite her worries, Heejin pushed down her fears and tried to focus on the positive. This was her dream and she was fulfilling it with eleven of the best people she’d ever met! This was amazing!

She smiled out to the crowd, waving at the direction of someone calling her name. Heejin couldn’t really see (the lights had a double effect of making them easier to see but everyone else not so much), but she knew from the happy squealing that she'd managed to wave in the right direction. Good.

Too busy focusing on the audience, Heejin didn’t even notice that she began to space out. As the members formed a line across the stage and started taking questions, she moved on autopilot to a spot next to Hyunjin. Where she always wanted to be.

“You did well,” Hyunjin whispered to her, handing her an open water bottle. 

Hyunjin didn’t even turn to face her but Heejin felt herself swooning all the same. Hyunjin always had a way of making her feel better - those three insignificant words alleviating Heejin’s worries better than anything ever could. It was like magic, the way Hyunjin could take everything, the loud audience, the other members on stage, even Heejin’s tension, and make them all evaporate away. Like nothing else existed except for Hyunjin and her.

As Heejin took a sip, she saw Hyunjin wink at her, the small but bold action almost making her cough the water back up.

“--not too sure. So many of our members have such cute charms that it’s hard to choose!” Heejin heard Jinsoul say, snapping her back to reality. The other members nodded at Jinsoul’s non-answer and Heejin, pretending she had been listening all along, nodded as well. 

Lost, Heejin stood there as Haseul - who was next to answer, being on Jinsoul’s left side - brought the microphone closer to her mouth. Not having paid enough attention to her surroundings, Heejin hoped that Haseul’s answer would indicate some sort of clue as to what the question could be. She didn’t want to sound like an idiot when it got around to her turn after all, which was getting closer as seconds passed.

“I would definitely pick Vivi!” Haseul confidently answered, nodding as cheers came from the audience. “She cares for me and the other members so well and she always helps me so I think it’d be okay, if it were her…” she trailed off at the end, a teasing smile on her face accompanying Vivi’s smile across the stage.

Heejin might have found it adorable if she weren’t busy internally screaming at how unhelpful it was. Seriously, there were no hints in that at all! Heejin already knew from Jinsoul’s answer that she’d have to pick one of her members for_something _ but what exactly? Heejin hoped that she could get away with just picking a member at random and saying something nice.

Hyunjin raised her mic, Heejin’s panic heightening when she realised that she was going next. Their eyes connected and Hyunjin must have noticed Heejin’s distress because she repeated, “If I were a guy, what member of LOONA would I date? That’s a tough question.”

Heejin’s freaking out immediately ended at Hyunjin’s words. Not for the first time, she was glad that the two of them had always been able to understand each other even without words. It was like a superpower, almost. A very specific form of telepathy.

Once Heejin was done marvelling at how awesome it was that she and Hyunjin could somehow read each other's minds, her eyes widened as the question registered in her head. Did she seriously have to admit that she would 100%, without a doubt, want to date Hyunjin? And what was Hyunjin going to say?

Heejin watched as the sides of Hyunjin’s lips curled into a mischievous smile. 

_ Oh no_, Heejin thought, worrying because she'd seen that exact smile too many times before, _what's Hyunjin going to do now? _

“Who do you guys think?” Hyunjin coyly said, moving her arm to point the microphone towards the audience. 

Hyunjin’s smile didn’t once waver when the audience shouted back Heejin’s name as if she had been expecting the response all along. Heejin, on the other hand, had not. Embarrassed, Heejin’s gaze turned to the ground, a heavy blush settling on her cheeks. _ Did I really make it that obvious? _She jerked her head up when Hyunjin laughed into the mic, eager to hear her answer. Eager for Hyunjin to pick her.

“Well, I think I’d have to pick Vivi too,” Hyunjin answered, much to Heejin’s surprise. “Like Haseul said earlier, she’s so caring and sweet… if I were a boy, I think I’d really like to be taken care of like that.” 

With every word Hyunjin said, Heejin felt a tiny prickle in her heart. All of Heejin’s hope fizzled out and she was left with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Because, of course, Hyunjin wouldn’t pick her. Why would she? There were so many other members that each had their own great qualities. She had been deluding herself by thinking she even had a chance.

“It seemed like the orbits wanted you to pick Heejin,” Sooyoung said jokingly, teasing her members as she always did. “Any reason why you didn’t?”

If she could, Heejin would have walked directly backstage and never returned. Maybe quit being an idol, pick up a normal job and leave it all behind. Hearing Hyunjin pick someone else was bad enough already, but hearing the reason why? Hearing why Hyunjin thought she wasn’t good enough? That would be the end of Jeon Heejin. 

Heejin started to speak. “I don’t think we need to--”

Hyunjin’s laughter cut her off, as she tilted her head to the side and seemed to contemplate the question. 

“It’s no secret that I love to eat and I especially love it when someone cooks for me, but Heejin doesn’t know how to cook! She’s terrible at it -- I swear once she almost burned the house down! But Vivi’s cooking is _ soooo _ good. She even knows how to cook Korean dishes perfectly!” Hyunjin nodded at her own words. “So that's why, if I were a guy, I'd rather date Vivi over Heejin.”

The rest of the members started talking too, either agreeing about Vivi’s cooking skills -  
“she still owes me chicken,” Chuu burst out - or clowning Heejin for lack thereof. Go Won even got pulled into the conversation for almost burning the house down, and they made Heejin and Go Won stand in front and formally apologise for putting them into danger with their culinary attempts. The jokes died down after a while, and it was Heejin’s turn to answer.

Maybe it was awkward to admit that she’d date Hyunjin, especially when the girl had just publicly rejected her for her poor cooking. And yes, it would definitely be pathetic to say so. But still, Heejin couldn’t stop her name from leaving her mouth. 

“Hyunjin,” she answered truthfully.

She was grateful to hear the audience burst into laughter, not wanting to ruin the mood. If all went well, she could play it off as a joke. 

Instead of the pout that she wanted to show, Heejin faked a grin. “No particular reason. In fact, Hyunjin’s so mean to me I don’t even know why I would want that!” She lifted her free hand, now a fist, pretending to be ready to fight Hyunjin who was standing beside her.

The other members laughed - “they always act like this!” Yeojin revealed - but Hyunjin didn’t. Looking into Heejin’s eyes, it was as if she could tell that Heejin was just trying to play it off, as if she knew Heejin was hurt by her words. Still, Hyunjin didn’t say anything, so Heejin was left there wondering if she even cared. Maybe she didn’t. 

Heejin let her arm fall to her side, still faking a smile.


	2. if she wants

Dropping her backpack to the ground the second she stepped into the dorm, Yeojin wrinkled her nose at the strange smell. “What are you burning?” Yeojin asked in the direction of the kitchen, sniffing the air as she slipped out of her school shoes. God, she really hoped that no one would set off the smoke alarm again.

“It’s beef stroganoff!” Heejin replied. Gazing down at the practically indistinguishable remnants in her charred-black pan, she frowned. “It’s supposed to be beef stroganoff.”

“Yeah, I’m not eating that,” Olivia said from her spot on the couch, not even looking up from the TV screen. “It even smells inedible.”

“Yeah, sorry Heejin,” Go Won agreed, not sounding sorry at all. “Sensitive stomach.”

“What about you, Yeo?”

Heejin lifted the pan and Yeojin flinched, as if Heejin were brandishing a weapon. Geez, Heejin’s ability to make food seem like a threat was almost a talent. Maybe they could show it off instead of Hyunjin’s barking and Vivi’s human jump rope trick. Yeojin grimaced, shaking her head and making a cross with her arms. As much as she wanted to be nice, Heejin’s cooking attempts had got to stop before they all went to the hospital. How many times had it been by now? Eight? Ten?

“I don’t really want food poisoning again, y’know?” Yeojin explained, shuddering at the memory. Heejin’s so-called spaghetti was rough. Yeojin didn’t even know how the older girl messed such a simple recipe up so bad. “Cereal for dinner again.”

Heejin pouted. “Then what am I supposed to do with this?”

Hyunjin luckily - or maybe unluckily for her - chose that moment to traipse into the room, distracting the distraught Heejin, allowing Yeojin enough time to slip into the hallway and into the freedom of her room. If she stayed even a minute longer, Heejin probably would’ve forced her to try some and Yeojin could _ not _ go through that ordeal again.

Peeking through the crack of her door, she watched as Hyunjin’s face lit up at the sight of Heejin’s “food”. She ate a piece of the burnt meat, not even hesitating before a loud “this is terrible!” exited her lips. After her announcement, Heejin’s face fell but Hyunjin’s smile still inexplicably plastered on her face as her chopsticks returned to the pan, still chewing.

“Don’t eat that, you’re gonna get sick!” Heejin swatted her hands away.

Now it was Hyunjin’s turn to frown. “Aww, come on, you know I love everything you make.”

Heejin blushed and Yeojin couldn’t help but laugh at how visible the pink on her cheeks was even from across the hall.

It was hard to believe since Hyunjin was usually the instigator of making fun of Heejin’s cooking attempts but Hyunjin’s statement was true. Ever since Heejin had been trying to cook more, it was always Hyunjin that ended up finishing the dishes off. Even if she found them terrible. _ Maybe she's a masochist_, Yeojin thought. It was the only viable explanation.

“No!” Heejin wrestled the pan out of Hyunjin’s reach. Despite her harsh tone and even harsher actions, a small smile was on her face, pleased at Hyunjin’s words. “You know what? You’re banned! You can’t taste _ any _ of my food until I get better!”

“You’re gonna make me starve? That could take years!” Hyunjin replied, face and tone looking deathly serious, to which Olivia laughed and high-fived her for.

Heejin huffed. “I’ll get better soon! You’ll see!” 

* * *

The next day the fire alarm went off at 5am. Scrambled eggs. A recipe as easy as: get an egg, crack it, mix it up, salt and pepper, put it in a pan over a fire. Heejin must have misread, somehow adding a few steps which went along the lines of: spill everything, attempt to wipe it up with paper towels, place the _very-flammable _paper towels you aren’t using next to the fire, set your dorm aflame.

* * *

To no one’s surprise, Heejin did not get better soon.

It had been about two months since Heejin’s sudden turn to the culinary arts, each attempt as horrific as the last. The containers of Heejin’s “food” were piling up in the fridge. It was honestly starting to stink a bit, even the ones that were less than two days old. The power of Heejin’s cooking, Yeojin guessed.

The older members had to do quite a bit more groceries to keep up with how many ingredients Heejin seemed to need for her recipes so they were out more often. Or maybe (probably) they were just using that as an excuse to leave for a few hours. They had takeout a lot more now too, which had its upsides and downsides. As a result, they’d memorised most of the menus of nearby delivering restaurants by now.

Scowling, Haseul slammed the door of their fridge shut. Yeojin cupped her hands over her ears, too used to Haseul in a bad mood. She opened her mouth - presumably to yell out her anger at Heejin for taking up all her cheese space - but Vivi shut her up with some cabbage. Her anger melted away in moments, chewing as if deep in thought, before facing the older girl.

“What is this?”

“Chop tsui,” Vivi replied, a smile growing at Haseul’s positive reaction. “You like it?”

“I love it,” Haseul murmured, words soft and sincere. Her anger seemed to return tenfold when Hyunjin walked in and took some. “You--” she pointed up at Hyunjin accusingly, “we could’ve had food like this all the time if you hadn’t insulted Heejin’s cooking to everyone!”

Yeojin was confused. “What does _that _have to do with anything?”

“Heejin’s just cooking more because Hyunjin said she would date me over her,” Vivi stated simply. “Because her cooking sucks and mine is--”

“Spectacular!”

“Yes. Thank you, Seulie.” Vivi patted Haseul’s head before shrugging. “You do dumb things when you’ve got a crush. So I guess I kinda understand where Heejin’s coming from.”

Yeojin was dazed. She turned to Hyunjin accusingly. “I’ve gotten food poisoning. Five times. Because Heejin has some stupid crush on you?!”

“Yep.”

“And you knew about it?!”

“Basically.” Hyunjin had the audacity to laugh at Yeojin’s shocked face. “Look, I’ll fix it soon. Now shhh.” Hyunjin placed her index finger over her lips in a shushing motion. Slyly taking a plastic container from the fridge, she opened one of Heejin’s small disasters and dug in.

“You really like those?” Haseul questioned. “I thought you were just being nice.”

Hyunjin shrugged, slurping up the questionable liquid. _ Weren’t those cookies? Why did they have soup? _“They have their own charm. Heejin made it, so…”

* * *

Somewhere along the way, Heejin had the bright idea of getting lessons from Vivi. They almost burn down the dorm. Making potato salad. So suffice to say, no one was surprised Heejin’s lessons promptly stopped.

* * *

It was midnight. Hyunjin wanted a glass of water but didn’t want Kim Lip yelling at her for being awake so late - even though most of the members were still up - so she crept out of her room as quietly as possible. Instead of a glass, however, Hyunjin found Heejin, head resting on her arms folded above the kitchen island, mouth slightly open as she snored cutely. Before Hyunjin had the chance to whip out her phone and snap a few quick pics of the slumbering girl, she noticed the gas of the stove was still on.

Hyunjin turned everything off with a speed that’d win several ISAC relays, before returning to Heejin. She shook her shoulder. “Hey.”

“Hyun--” Heejin murmured, still fully asleep. 

Her snores started up again, mouth open enough to catch flies. Hyunjin laughed. She gently closed Heejin’s mouth, the soft graze of her skin causing Heejin to smile subconsciously.

“You’re so ugly when you sleep like that,” Hyunjin said underneath her breath. She paused to take her hand away and Heejin’s mouth fell open once more. “But still so annoyingly pretty.”

Eventually, Heejin’s eyes fluttered open. She lifted her head and arms from the cold marble counter, groaning to herself. She was visibly dazed and confused but relaxed as soon as her eyes landed on Hyunjin.

“Hyunjin? What--” her voice was all groggy from sleep, so cute Hyunjin couldn’t help but smile. Heejin looked around before realising where she was. “My soup!”

_ In a pan? _

Heejin jerked up from her seat, but Hyunjin placed her hands over her shoulders, pressing her back down. “I turned everything off, don’t worry. If I didn’t come downstairs--”

“I know. I’m sorry. Not just for almost setting the fire alarm off again but--” Heejin pouted up at her, taking in a breath. “I’m sorry I can’t cook for you.”

Hyunjin gasped dramatically, pretending to be taken aback. “For me? You’ve been trying to cook, for me?”

Heejin hit her. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t know!”

“Sure, I knew,” Hyunjin admitted. “I still don’t know why, though. Why do all that just to prove some stupid thing I said wrong?”

Heejin cast her eyes downwards, looking sheepish. She murmured something underneath her breath that Hyunjin couldn’t quite hear.

“What?”

Heejin bit her bottom lip, body stiffening as if afraid of the words threatening to slip out. “Because you said you’d rather date Vivi because of it.”

Just like that, it all clicked in Hyunjin’s brain. She couldn’t help but laugh. Heejin’s face fell at her reaction, and instantly she attempted to backtrack. “I said _ if I were a guy_, I’d date Vivi,” Hyunjin corrected.

“Yeah,” Heejin said, not understanding, “what’s the difference?”

“I’m not though, am I?” 

"Huh?"

Hyunjin had never been the best with words - hell, her choice of words was what got them into this mess in the first place - so instead she chose action. She stepped forward, took Heejin’s face in her hands and pressed a kiss onto Heejin’s soft lips. Heejin didn’t kiss back, not at first, so Hyunjin started to pull away to assess how badly she’d messed things up. But Heejin didn’t let her, wrapping her arms around Hyunjin’s neck to pull her in again. They pulled back eventually and the first word that slipped out of both of their mouths was “wow”.

They both laughed, Heejin's out of sheer relief.

“I’m so glad you taste better than your cooking!” Hyunjin teased.

Heejin pouted, hitting her again, but softer this time. “You still need to explain yourself, you know? I didn’t spend this much time trying to cook for you to not even confess!”

“Alright, alright!” Hyunjin paused, searching for the right words to say. Heejin deserved the best, after all. “I think, if I was Kim Hyunjin, I’d like Jeon Heejin very much. Lack of cooking skills and all. And I’d definitely want to date her - _ and not Vivi - _ if she wants that.”

Heejin pushed up on her toes to peck Hyunjin’s lips. “She does.”

**Author's Note:**

> cc/twt: @choerrytmt
> 
> talk to me about 2jin, anytime~


End file.
